I'm Opal from the UK. I literally just signed up (it was kind of an OMG WOW I HAVE TO JOIN THIS SITE moment) but I haven't read up on the forums yet so forgive me if I come across as a total noob. It's probably because I am a noob.

Not new to veganism though. I've been vegan my whole life, with a short period of eating a little dairy (between age 10 and 15) So I am definitely a herbivore through and through.

And not really to fitness either. Always been strong and done various types of training, but I gained some weight when I was 19 and 20 and I've been trying to lose it for the last 3 years. The progress has been slow but steady. I started off running thousands of miles like a mad person, and now I'm doing intermittent fasting and bodyweight training.

This is my current photo - I still have some cutting to do before I will feel ready to bulk.

Thanks for reading and I can't wait to get posting and devouring all the previous topics!!

Nice, welcome, love your name btw, I've never met an Opal before. Nice picture too. You look fit, great that you continue to set goals for yourself and work hard. Welcome to the forum, I bet you'll like it here, you sound like a perfect match for this site. Hope you continue to share with us and help us learn from each other and continue to grow.

As a new vegan I would like to encourage you to be cautious about any nutrition advice you might get on the web. A lot of people are ignorant or have agendas, including vegans. Please check out this short post on where to find reliable vegan nutrition informationhttp://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-diets/

Well I think your strength gaining is a good sign of progress, as you build muscle it should help increase your metabolism. Also don't focus on the scale. Weight doesn't mean anything, if you notice your body becoming more defined isn't that more important than whatever the number of lbs/kilos you weigh is?

Richard- I'm in the southwest, near Bristol, good to meet a fellow brit-ninja-fan!

beforewisdom- thanks for the links, I agree there is a ton of nonsense out there and I am never fully sure who to believe (generally I just follow my instincts, of course that can go wrong too lol)

Dylan- oh I know it so well... this year I have gained 10lbs while losing 3 inches round my waist... lol. The scale is pretty much no better than a random number generator, for me. I rarely bother to look at it.

The main thing I need to do is get onto a regular program of training as it's been a bit haphazard this week, and also I've been eating a load of junk so I need to keep an eye on that. Off to start a journal now..

Oops, sorry Richard forgot to mention the IFing. Well I'm not doing entire days of fasting at the moment, but when I do I won't eat anything just drink lemony water and rest up. I always feel strangely energised afterwards and it definitely helps with weight loss! But as I'm very busy with work and such, I haven't been able to take the time out. I saw the documentary, it was pretty interesting how going without food seems to sharpen up the brain as well as give digestive system a rest, etc.

jaguar wrote: I'm frustrated with how slow weight loss is, but delighted with how much strength gains I've made lately, so hopefully I can be active in both learning and sharing around here

I have seen your pictures and you seem not to have much weight to lose...that's when it gets tough! I'm trying to lose a bit too but since I actually "don't need to" ( but want to!) it's difficult ...but possible